The DOE just release the names of the 20 teams (some from multiple schools) who will be competing in next year’s Solar Decathlon that will take place in Washington, D.C., in the fall 2011. Every two year, selected teams get an opportunity display some remarkable approaches to energy-efficient construction, appliances and use of novel materials. Aerogel insulation, for example, was big in 2009.

The 20 were selected from a pool of U.S. and international applicants that were evaluated by a panel of engineers, scientists, and experts from DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Teams were required to meet specific criteria to demonstrate their viability, including their ability to design and build an innovative, entirely solar-powered house, to raise additional funds, to support the project through a well-integrated curriculum, and to assemble a team necessary to carry the project through to completion. A panel of professionals from American Institute of Architects, National Association of Home Builders, the U.S. Green Building Council, building industry media, and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers evaluated conceptual designs from prospective teams. The results of their evaluations, combined with scores based on the four criteria listed above, determined the 2011 Solar Decathlon teams.

The teams are

Appalachian State University

The Research Foundation of CUNY

Florida State University, The University of Central Florida, The University of Florida, and The University of South Florida

Stevens Institute of Technology and The New School

Ghent University

Tongji University

Massachusetts College of Art and Design and University of Massachusetts at Lowell- Boston and Lowell, Massachusetts

Rutgers the State University of New Jersey and New Jersey Institute of Technology

Middlebury College

Florida International University

The Ohio State University

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Old Dominion University and Hampton University

University of Maryland

Purdue University

University of Calgary

The University of Tennessee

University of Hawaii

The Southern California Institute of Architecture and California Institute of Technology

Victoria University of Wellington

The DOE has also launched a new Solar Decathlon blog and has a gallery of photos of the 2009 entries here that really do a good job showing the stylish efforts.